LanguaTalk

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

Hear the world's top storytellers talk all things documentary film. Host Thom Powers is as well-connected as it gets in this world as a documentary curator for TIFF and other renowned festivals. He wrote the book "Mondo Documentary" that is “required reading for fans of nonfiction cinema,” says Judd Apatow. Our podcast guests range from documentary legends to emerging talent. Follow us on Instagram and Substack at @purenonfiction.

235: Oscar Shortlist Spotlight

64 hours 55 mins; January 08, 2026

234: Ryan White & Megan Falley on "Come See Me in the Good Light"

47 mins; January 05, 2026

233: Alexandria Stapleton on "Sean Combs: The Reckoning"

45 mins; December 20, 2025

232: Apocalypse in the Tropics

47 mins; December 04, 2025

231: Docs from Five Countries

92 hours 30 mins; November 25, 2025

230: Storks, Orphans, Rebels & Predators

61 hours 4 mins; October 24, 2025

229: Poetry, Murder, Prison & UFOs

61 hours 47 mins; October 23, 2025

228: Contessa Gayles on "Songs From the Hole"

24 mins; August 28, 2025

227: Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady on "Folktales"

30 mins; July 24, 2025

226: Martha Stewart, Alice Waters, John Williams

47 mins; June 13, 2025

225: Will & Harper, Social Studies, Chimp Crazy

47 mins; June 12, 2025

224: Emmy contenders

60 hours 52 mins; May 30, 2025

223: Questlove, Reginald Hudlin, David Tedeschi

63 hours 32 mins; May 29, 2025

222: Sam Soko on telling African stories

42 mins; May 08, 2025

221: Sinead O'Shea on Edna O'Brien

43 mins; April 17, 2025

220: Jeremy Workman on “Secret Mall Apartment”

50 mins; March 27, 2025

219: Frederick Wiseman at 95

38 mins; February 14, 2025

218: Shortlisters, part 2

51 mins; January 09, 2025

217: Shortlisters, part 1

47 mins; January 08, 2025

216: "Queendom" with Agniia Galdanova & Igor Myakotin

39 mins; January 07, 2025

215: Ibrahim Nash'at on "Hollywoodgate"

31 mins; January 06, 2025

214: Adam Kinzinger & Steve Pink on "The Last Republican"

31 mins; January 02, 2025

213: Alex Gibney & Alexis Bloom on "The Bibi Files"

46 mins; December 31, 2024

212: William Kentridge on "Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot"

34 mins; December 10, 2024

211: Live from London

73 hours 55 mins; December 05, 2024

210: Brian Eno & Ibelin

38 mins; December 04, 2024

209: Raoul Peck on Ernest Cole, George Orwell & Haiti

38 mins; November 27, 2024

208: Johan Grimonprez on "Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat"

53 mins; November 21, 2024

207: Frida, Celine and Daughters

44 mins; November 14, 2024

206: Docs with Laughs

28 mins; November 08, 2024

205: Live from Los Angeles

47 mins; October 31, 2024

204: Shiori Ito on "Black Box Diaries"

39 mins; October 23, 2024

203: Elevating documentary craft in "Nocturnes"

33 mins; October 17, 2024

202: On filming "Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story"

40 mins; October 09, 2024

201: Angela Patton & Natalie Rae Robison on "Daughters"

31 mins; October 03, 2024

200: Beadie Finzi & Judy Kibinge on DISCO & the Independence Project

46 mins; September 26, 2024

199: "No Other Land" directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham

40 mins; September 05, 2024

198: Lucy Walker on "Mountain Queen"

49 mins; August 07, 2024

197: Sonya Childress & Sahar Driver on Color Congress

47 mins; August 01, 2024

196: Jeff Zimbalist on "Skywalkers: A Love Story"

42 mins; July 18, 2024

195: Rethinking Louis C.K. in "Sorry / Not Sorry"

45 mins; July 11, 2024

194: "Copa 71" Restores a Lost History

33 mins; June 20, 2024

193: ESPN 30 for 30

36 mins; June 18, 2024

192: Emmy contenders, part 2

75 hours 27 mins; June 13, 2024

191: Emmy Contenders, Part 1

79 hours 8 mins; June 12, 2024

190: Chris Wilcha — from "This American Life" to "Flipside"

44 mins; June 06, 2024

189: India's Trail-Blazing Director Anand Patwardhan

39 mins; May 30, 2024

188: Margreth Olin on "Songs of Earth"

42 mins; May 22, 2024

187: Rob Reiner on Albert Brooks and Spinal Tap

32 mins; May 15, 2024

186: Yousef Srouji on Palestinian Home Movies

42 mins; May 09, 2024

185: Paul Cronin on Columbia 1968

57 mins; May 06, 2024

184: Clair Titley on "The Contestant"

33 mins; May 01, 2024

183: Julia Bacha and Suhad Babaa on 20 Years of Covering Israel-Palestine

49 mins; April 18, 2024

182: Sreemoyee Singh — from India to Iran

41 mins; April 10, 2024

181: Mila Turajlić on Non-Aligned

49 mins; April 03, 2024

180: Asmae El Moudir on "The Mother of All Lies"

24 mins; March 28, 2024

179: Alex Gibney on Paul Simon

50 mins; March 21, 2024

178: Anand Giridharadas on "The Persuaders"

48 mins; March 14, 2024

177: Carla Gutierrez on "Frida"

48 mins; March 07, 2024

176: Alissa Wilkinson at The New York Times

54 mins; February 29, 2024

175: Oscar nominee S. Leo Chiang on "Island in Between"

40 mins; February 15, 2024

174: Oscar contenders, part 2

43 mins; January 11, 2024

173: Oscar contenders, part 1

53 mins; January 10, 2024

172: Nicole Newnham on "The Disappearance of Shere Hite"

46 mins; November 30, 2023

171: "Every Body" Profiles Intersex Activists

43 mins; November 22, 2023

170: Raoul Peck on "Silver Dollar Road"

42 mins; November 16, 2023

169: Mstyslav Chernov on "20 Days in Mariupol"

36 mins; October 26, 2023

168: Vinay Shukla on "While We Watched"

40 mins; October 05, 2023

167: Sébastien Lifshitz on "Casa Susanna"

39 mins; August 23, 2023

166: Maite Alberdi on "The Eternal Memory"

36 mins; August 17, 2023

165: D. Smith on "Kokomo City"

39 mins; August 10, 2023

164: Asif Kapadia on Highs and Lows

37 mins; June 22, 2023

163: John Leguizamo Does America

32 mins; June 08, 2023

162: Roger Ross Williams on Donna Summer, "The 1619 Project" and "Cassandro"

43 mins; May 29, 2023

161: Elvis Mitchell on "Is That Black Enough for You?!?"

36 mins; May 17, 2023

160: Inside "Couples Therapy"

33 mins; May 11, 2023

159: Lisa Cortés on "Little Richard: I Am Everything"

41 mins; May 04, 2023

158: Harry Belafonte on "Sing Your Song"

34 mins; April 27, 2023

157: E. Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin on "Wild Life"

33 mins; April 12, 2023

156: Chase Joynt Explores Transgender History in "Framing Agnes"

36 mins; April 06, 2023

155: Daniel Roher on "Navalny"

43 mins; March 03, 2023

154: Oscar-nominated Shaunak Sen on "All That Breathes"

29 mins; February 07, 2023

153: Joyce Chopra on "Lady Director"

31 mins; January 31, 2023

152: Violet Du Feng on "Hidden Letters"

34 mins; January 10, 2023

151: Rebeca Huntt on "Beba"

32 mins; December 05, 2022

150: “La Madrina” of the South Bronx

28 mins; April 14, 2022

149: W. Kamau Bell on "We Need to Talk About Cosby"

28 mins; February 23, 2022

148: Abigail Disney & Kathleen Hughes on Disney’s Dark Side

25 mins; February 17, 2022

147: Stanley Nelson on "Attica" and a Retrospective

32 mins; January 28, 2022

146: Alex Pritz on “The Territory” at Sundance

32 mins; January 27, 2022

145: Joe Hunting on "We Met in Virtual Reality" at Sundance

28 mins; January 25, 2022

144: Ramin Bahrani on “2nd Chance” at Sundance

27 mins; January 22, 2022

143: Isabel Castro on "Mija" at Sundance

30 mins; January 21, 2022

142: Sara Dosa on "Fire of Love" at Sundance

28 mins; January 19, 2022

141: Rick Rowley on “American Insurrection”

40 mins; January 06, 2022

140: Ry Russo-Young on her “Nuclear Family”

32 mins; December 08, 2021

139: Sonya Childress & Jesse Wente on Making Change

33 mins; September 02, 2021

138: Nanfu Wang on “In the Same Breath”

32 mins; August 26, 2021

137: Sonia Kennebeck on “Enemies of the State”

57 mins; August 11, 2021

136: Fran Lebowitz on “Pretend It’s a City”

33 mins; June 16, 2021

Click here to see more

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

Useful pages

Find a tutor

Languages